Queenstown is the place for adrenaline-junkies but there was little excitement on Wednesday as persistent rain allowed only 4.2 overs of play in the second one-dayer between Pakistan and New Zealand.

There were showers early in the morning, but it cleared up before start of play, raising hopes of the fans who had gathered. The rains returned, however, soon after Daniel Vettori chose to field, as every international captain has done after winning the toss in Queenstown.

New Zealand stuck with their plan of giving James Franklin the new ball, ahead of the much quicker Hamish Bennett, and it didn't work as 19-year-old Ahmed Shehzad took 16 off his two overs. Shehzad, playing his first one-dayer in 20 months, showed no signs of rustiness as he smashed the third ball of the match over square leg for six. He also slapped Tim Southee for a couple of fours before the rains came back, and stayed through the day to cause the match to be abandoned.

The third one-dayer of the series is in Christchurch on Saturday, and the bad news is that rain is predicted during that game as well.